Facebook to use AI to automatically flag offensive live streams

Facebook is trying to flag offensive videos. Considering the massive user base of the social media giant, flagging every offensive live stream might seem beyond a man's control. Hence Facebook is switching to Artificial Intelligence to supervise and weed out video streams for "nudity, violence and any other content that violates the site's policies".

According to Reuters, Facebook is trying to change the method of blocking offensive videos. Until now, the Facebook team would block video or (a post for that matter), only once it was reported by users. However, now, with the use of AI, the company might be able to combat such videos on its own.

Joaquin Candela, the company’s director of applied machine learning told Reuters, “it's an algorithm that detects nudity, violence, or any of the things that are not according to our policies."

The project is currently under development phase, and as Candela said there are two challenges in using artificial intelligence to flag the live video. “One, your computer vision algorithm has to be fast, and I think we can push there, and another one is you need to prioritise things in the right way so that a human looks at it, an expert who understands our policies and takes it down.”

Since the beginning of this year, Facebook has drawn flak for videos that raged a spark on the platform, including Facebook Live broadcast that showed Antonio Perkins as he was shot and killed by Chicago Police. Others include removing an iconic Vietnam War photo due to nudity, fake news of Pope Francis endorsing Donald Trump, etc.

The company is apparently also testing the automated system on Facebook Live, the streaming video service for users to broadcast live video. Facebook is also working on detecting links even before they land in the News Feed.